Pivoted backrest



R. WRIGHT Oct. 28, 1958 PIVOTED BACKREST 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March50, 1955 I Ll INVENTOR.

RUsSEL wrangHT.

ATTO R N EY.

Oct. 28, 1958 R. WRIGHT PIVOTED BACKREST 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March30, 1955 INVENTOR. RUfiSEL WRIGHT.

Oct. 28, 1958 R1 WRIGHT PIVOTED BACKRE'ST Filed March 30, 1955 5Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. RUSSEL WRIGHT,

A RIVEV. v

Oct. 28, 1958 R WRIGHT 2,857,958

PIVOTED BACKREST Filed March 50, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. Russe LWRIGHT.

ATTYOR HEY.

Oct. 28, 1958 Y wRlGHT I 2,857,958-

' PIVOTED BACKREST 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 30, 1955 INVENTOR.RUSSEL WRIGHT ATTORNEY United States Patent This invention relates tochair constructions. v I

It is the object of the present invention to provide a novel andimproved type of chairjcohstructio'n which is greatly Simplified andwhich is believed to be less costly to r'nanuf actiire than commensuratechairs of this type.

It is the object of the present invention to-provide a chairconstruction with a novel framework, together with a novel seatconstruction and method of assembly.

It is the further object of the present invention to pro' vide a novelhack rest and novel means of mounting the same to the framework. A

It is the further object of the present invention to provide a tabletarm construction, together with novel structure'for mounting the tabletarm to the frame of the chair.

It is the further object of the present invention to provide a noveldesk type chair construction, together with novel structure for mountingthe tablet or support upon the chair frame; I.

These and other objectswill be seen from the following specification andclaims in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

I Fig; 1 is a front perspective view of the chair embodyin'g'myinvention.

2 is a fragmentary front perspective view of a tablet arm chairemtiofdying my invention.

Fig. 3 is a front perspective and fragmentary view of a desk chairconstructioh.

Fig. 4 isa left side elevational View of the chair shown in Fig. 1 on aslightly increased scale, with the back rest emitted.

Fig; 5 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the chair shown inFig. 1 on a slightly rilarged scale arid with the back rest omitted.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of the chair shown in Fig. 1. p I

rig. 7 is a fragrnentary plan view of the tablet arm chair shown in Fig.2, on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the chair shown in Fig.2, on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary front elcvational view thereof.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary front elevation al view of the back rest shownin Fig; 1 with the frame partially illustrated. V

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary plan View thereof.

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary rear perspective view of the back rest-of Fig.10.

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary section taken on line 13*13 of Fig. 10 on anenlarged scale. 7

Fig; 14 is a fragmentary front view of the back rest shown in Fig. l ona slightly enlarged scaleand illustrating a pivotal mounting'the'reforupon the chair frame fragmentarily shown.

7 Fig. 15 is a fragmentaryplan View thereofon an enlarged scale; and

Fig; 16is a fragmentaryeectioii taken saline 16 -16 of Fig. 14 on anenlarged scale.

2,857,958 v Patented Oct. 28, 1958.

It will be understood that the above drawings illustrate merely severalpreferred embodiments of the invention and that other embodiments arecontemplated within the scope of the claims hereafter set forth.

Referring to the drawings, the chair shown in Fig. 1 includes a pair ofupright inverted U-shaped tubular elements 11 and 12 havingsubstantially horizontal bights 13 at their upper ends, said elementsincluding the diverging free end portions 15 and 16 which form the legsof the chair upon" each side thereof.

Tapered sleeves 17 are secured at the lower ends of the legs 15 and 16,respectively, and carry at their lower ends the universally mountedfloor engaging feet 18.

Accordingly, each ofthe elements 15 and 16 of the pair of tubularelements 11 and 12 define a front and rear leg. e

As illustrated in Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 8, the two tubular elements 11 and12 are maintained in upright position by the pair of transverselyarranged parallel spaced cross braces 26 which are secured at theirrespective ends to interior wall portions of the said bights 13 as atpoints 27; Fig 6; forming a part of the tubular leg elements to thusprovide a rigid supporting structure.

The chair construction also includes a unitary formed tubular back restframe 19 of general U-shape which includes a pair of parallel spacedhorizontally disposed free end portions 20 and 21 whose ends 28 aresecured, respectively, to a corresponding front leg 15 as at points 29,Fig. 4.

Intermediate the ends of the back rest frame and adjacent the rearportions of the elements 2%) and 21, said frame is secured to therespective rear legs 16 of said chair upon interior surface portionsthereof as at points 30 by welding. Furthermore, the front free ends ofthe brace elements 20 and 21 arealso secured to rear surface portions offront legs 15 such as by welding to thereby complete a unitary framestructure for the chair.

The foriiied tubular back rest frame 19 includes as an extension ofelementsitland 21 the upwardly and rear wardi extending converging frameelements 23 and 24 which terminatein' the arcuate bight 25" at the upperend of frame elementlil; e

As shown in Fig. 1 the freeend portions 20 and 21 of the back restfranie terminate at their rear ends in the curved portions 22" whichbleiid with the converging frame elemerit's 23 and which are inclinedslightly rearwardly as illustrated in Fig. 4: I I

The generallyre'ctaiigiilar slightly contour formed chair seat 31 hasrounded corners as at 32 and at its forward end has a downwardly curveddepending lip formation 33; The rear portion of seat 31 is curvedslightly upwardly as at 34,- Fig. 4. H The seat structure 31 includesthe upright side wall portions 35, Fig. 1, which terminate in theinwardly and downwardly tapered side wall portion 36 to thereby providefor an attractive and useful edging for the seat.

A series of fasteners such as rivets 37 extend through the seat 31 andretainingly engage the horizontal bight portions 13 which "forrn partsof the let defining tubular elements 11 and 12 as at points 38, Fig;

There is provi'cl'ed a formed'back rest 39 which is arrang'edtransversely and forwardly oftheback rest frame 19 and at its upper end,and suitably secured thereto either by a rigidconnectio'n as showii inFig. 12 or by a hinged connection as shown in Fig. 16,. hereafter "cle vThe saidba'ck rest ihiiides a'hbrizontally concave back ingplateSaidbacking plate registers with the outer free ends of'asries of spamhorizontally disposed posts 41 which are secured to-aiid projectforwardly of the u per end'of back rest frame 19% them'anner illustratedin Figs. 10, 11, 12 and 13. The posts 41 are hollow and are adapted tocooperatively and retainingly receive the fasteners 42 which projectthrough backing plate 40 and extend rearwardly thereof.

The back rest 39 also includes a molded and formed back rest element 43which is also horizontally concave as shown at 44, Fig. 11, and which ispreferably formed of a plastic substance, for illustration. The upperportions of back rest element 43 are gradually curved rearwardly as at45 as shown in Figs. 12 and 13, said curved portion extendingsubstantially throughout the upper edge of said back rest element. Thelower longitudinal edge portion of said back rest element is alsoslightly rearwardly curvedas at 45 to thereby complete the formation ofthe back rest element. In this connection, it is noted also thatintermediate side portions of the said back rest element are rearwardlycurved as at 43', Fig. 11.

The backing plate 40 has a continuous forwardly projecting peripheralflange 44' which is adapted to cooperatively register with the rearsurface of back rest element 43 thereby spacing said back rest elementforwardly of the body of said backing plate.

The back rest element 43 is immovably secured to backing plate 40 by aseries of rivets 46 or equivalent fastening device to thereby completethe back rest construction shown in Figs. through 13. s

A slightly difierent form of back rest is designated at 47 in Figs. 14,and 16, which back rest includes the horizontally concave backing plate48 and which has a forwardly projected peripheral flange 49 asillustrated in Figs. 14 and 15.

This backing plate is hingedly mounted by a horizontally disposed hingeconstruction in connection with the upper end portion of back rest frame19'. This hinge construction includes the elongated plate 50 which isarranged forwardly of backing plate 48, said plate being bifurcated withits pair of parallel spaced rearwardly directed elements 51 projectingthrough upright slots formed in backing plate 48, the ends of members 51being curved as shown in Fig. 16.

This mounting bracket 50-51 is pivotally mounted upon the forwardlyextending horizontally disposed posts.

53 which are secured to front portions of back rest frame 19 as atpoints 54. The hinge elements 51 are swivelly connected to the saidposts 53 by the rivets 52 or equivalent hinge mounting to therebyprovide for a pivotal mounting upon a horizontal axis of backing plate48.

There is formed within the upper portion of backing plate 48 a slightlyconvex rearwardly extending projection 55 which is centrally aperturedand which retainingly receives therein the formed rubber or resilientbumper 56. Said bumper projects rearwardly of backing plate 48 and isadapted on pivotal movement thereof to cooperatively engage a portion ofthe back rest frame 19' as best illustrated in Fig. 16 to therebyprovide a positive and resilient stop for the back rest.

The present back rest 47 also includes a molded and formed back restelement 57, preferably of a plastic material, which is of substantiallythe same construction as the back rest element 43, above described, inconjunction with Figs. 10 through 13.

The present back rest element 57 is also horizontally concave asgenerally designated at 58 and the upright side wall portions thereofare rearwardly curved as at 59 as shown in Fig. 15. The top horizontaledge portion of back rest element 57 is rearwardly curved as at 60, thelower horizontal edge portion being rearwardly curved as at 61.

The back rest element 57 is suitably secured to backing plate 48 by aseries of fasteners such as rivets 62 to thereby complete the hinged orswivelly mounted back rest construction 47 illustrated in Figs. 14, 15and 16.

In this connection, it is noted that the upper arcuate bight portion forthe back rest frame 19 is designated by the numeral 25' and correspondsto the bight 25 of back rest frame 19 shown in Fig. 12.

A slight variation of the present invention is shown in Fig. 2 whereinthere is provided a chair construction exactly the same as abovedescribed in connection with Fig. 1.

There has been provided in conjunction with such chair an additionalelement, namely, a tablet arm generally indicated at 63 and whichincludes the formed tablet 64 having the continuous upright side wallportion 65 which extends throughout its periphery, and which terminatesin the inwardly converging horizontally disposed peripheral wall portion66 to thereby complete the tablet arm.

The present tablet arm is horizontally disposed and arranged upon oneside of the chair of Fig. 2 partially overlapping its seat 31. Theformed bracket generally indicated at 67 is of a tubular construction,hereafter described, and provides a simplified yet very effective meansfor rigidly supporting the tablet arm with respect to the general chairconstruction.

Referring to Figs. 7, 8 and 9, the said tablet arm support 67 includes apair of substantially upright downwardly converging tubular elements 73and 79 whose lower ends are inwardly curved as at 68 and are adapted toextend under the chair seat 31 and be secured to a portion of the seatframe in the manner hereafter described. The upper ends of the tubularframe elements 73 and 79 terminate in a horizontally disposed supportelement which is substantially semi-circular in shape as indicated at 69and which supportably bears against central under surface portions oftablet arm 64 and is secured thereto by a series of fasteners similar tofasteners 82 shown in Fi 8.

eferring to Fig. 7, the upper portion of the tubular and curved tabletarm support element 69 upon one side thereof terminates in thehorizontally curved portion 70. This tubular portion terminates in therearwardly extending substantially horizontally disposed tubular element71 which at point 72 curves downwardly, as best illustrated in Fig. 8,and joins the upright tubular element 73.

The opposite side of the tablet arm support element 69 terminates in theinwardly curved horizontally disposed tubular element 78 which in turnterminates in the substantially upright tubular element 79 of Fig. 8.

Tubular element 73 is curved inwardly as at 68 and terminates in thefree ended horizontally disposed transversely arranged tubular portion74 whose free end is indicated at 75 and which tubular element 74 issecured to the corresponding cross brace 26 as by the rivets 76 orequivalent fasteners.

The other upright tubular portion 79 is also inwardly curved andterminates in the horizontally disposed tubular element 80 whose freeend is designated at 81. This tubular element is secured to thecorresponding cross brace 26 by a series of additional fasteners such asthe rivets 77 shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

By this construction there is provided a unitary formed tablet armsupport 67 which provides a substantially rigid mounting for tablet arm64 which is secured thereto as by fasteners such as the rivets 82 ofFig. 8.

Fig. 3 fragmentarily illustrates a slightly different form of tablet armconstruction than that shown in Fig. 2 to thereby provide what might becalled a desk chair construction. actly the same as above described inconnection with Fig. 1.

In conjunction with Fig. 3 there is merely provided a larger tablet arm83 which more substantially overlaps the chair seat 31 and thereforeprovides a slightly larger tubular mounting frame 67', which issubstantially the. same as frame 67 above described in connection withHowever, the chair construction itself is exwhich is horizontallydisposed in the manner shown in Fig. 3.

The only difference in the tubular frame mounting 67' is bestillustrated in Fig. 7 and wherein, in view of the increased lateralextent of the tablet 84, the horizontally disposed support is extendedlaterally as indicated at the dotted lines so as to include thesemi-circularly shaped support element 69', which terminates in thehorizontally disposed laterally extending tubular elements 85', Figs. 7and 9. The elongated tubular elements 85' terminate in the horizontallydisposed tubular elements 85, which are exactly the same in constructionas element 85 of Fig. 7 which forms a part of the solid line indicationof the horizontal support 69. The remainder of the construction isexactly the same as above described in conjunction with Figs. 8 and 9,and the method of securing the lower portions of the tablet support areexactly the same as above described in conjunction with the mounting oftablet arm 64 with mounting 67.

As the general overall construction of the enlarged tablet arm 83 andits slightly enlarged tubular support 67' is substantially the samestructurally as the tablet arm 63 and the support 67 of Fig. 2, it isbelieved that further description thereof may be omitted.

Having described my invention, reference should now be had to the claimwhich follows for determining the scope thereof.

I claim:

In a chair including a formed backrest frame of tubular stock extendedupwardly and rearwardly of the legs thereof, the upper end portions ofsaid frame converging upwardly and terminating in an inverted U-shapedtop, a pair of parallel spaced transversely apertured bosses joined tosaid upper end portions and extending forwardly thereof, a horizontallyconcave backing plate having a pair of spaced centrally arrangedapertures therethrough, a molded and formed backrest element overlappingsaid plate in engaging relation, said backing plate having a continuousperipheral flange engaging the rear surface of said backrest element forspacing the backrest element forwardly of the backing plate, fastenersinterconnecting said backing plate and said backrest element, a hingeinterconnecting a center portion of said plate with the frame, and arubber bumper mounted upon and projecting rearwardly of said backingplate above the hinge normally spaced from the frame and adapted forcooperative engagement with the top thereof, said hinge in cluding aU-shaped rearwardly extending bifurcated bracket with the ends thereofprojected through the apertures in said backing plate, beingtransversely apertured and in registry with said bosses and theirapertures, and rivets pivotally connecting said bracket and bosses.

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